Advocate staff photo by BILL FEIG -- Goodrich Petroleum Corp. reported Tuesday that it is in the process of completing two wells in Tangipahoa Parish and has begun drilling another there in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale.

Goodrich reports three Tangipahoa wells underway

Goodrich bets big on Tuscaloosa

Advocate staff photo by BILL FEIG -- Goodrich Petroleum Corp. reported Tuesday that it is in the process of completing two wells in Tangipahoa Parish and has begun drilling another there in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale.

Houston-based Goodrich Petroleum Corp. said Tuesday that the company is in the process of completing two wells in Tangipahoa Parish and has begun drilling another there.

The wells lie in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale, an oil-rich formation that crosses Louisiana and extends into Mississippi. The drilling update was part of Goodrich’s third-quarter earnings report.

The Tangipahoa wells are the Verberne 5H-1, the Williams 46H-1 and the Kent 41H-1. The Verberne and Williams wells are among five Goodrich expects will begin production in the fourth quarter.

Energy industry experts say the Tuscaloosa, which is in the development stage and whose well costs are high, will be hurt more by the recent drop in oil prices than other more mature and prolific formations.

Goodrich has bet big on the Tuscaloosa. The company has more than 300,000 acres under lease and three rigs working there. Most of its $300 million-plus drilling program for 2014 will be spent in the Tuscaloosa.

Goodrich’s share prices have fallen along with the price of oil. The company has seen its share price drop by nearly two-thirds in the past two months. Shares closed Tuesday at $7.29.

Goodrich spent close to $76 million on its Tuscaloosa operations during the third quarter, or 78 percent of its total capital spending.

Goodrich said it expects to spend between $60 million and $75 million on its entire drilling program in the fourth quarter. The company did not delineate how much of that will be in the Tuscaloosa.

The company’s recent wells have produced encouraging results. The Spears 31-6H-1 in Amite County, Mississippi, had a peak 24-hour production rate equivalent to 1,360 barrels of oil per day. The CMR/Foster Creek 24-13H-1 in Wilkinson County, Mississippi, has a peak 24-hour production rate to date equivalent to 1,215 barrels of oil per day.

Still, Goodrich reported a third-quarter loss of $79.7 million, or 49 cents per share. Stock analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had forecast a loss of 41 cents per share.